Broken Toy
by biscuitgroovy
Summary: Daniel recalls how he and Rorschach don't talk. Rorschach shows up, and a few things happen between them. Rorschach trusted Daniel, and is disgusted with him after Daniel does something to him that is, in his world, "disgusting". not good with summaries
1. Chapter 1

They didn't talk.

They never talked about the time Rorschach was sitting at Daniel's table in his worn-out kitchen, the empty can of beans in front of him, a folder with a child molester's name on it. Rorschach's head had turned to face Daniel, and Daniel was sick of that mask.

So _sick_ of it.

He wanted to rip it off, he wanted to see the face beneath it. The ink blotches were moving slowly, mysteriously, taunting him to see what was there.

So he finally did it.

Daniel finally took that one step forward he was always guilty about taking, and lifted Rorschach's fedora from his head, almost questioningly, but he only saw, no, _felt_ Rorschach tense up, a small growl coming from his throat as a warning.

But Dan still did it, and he still doesn't regret it as much as taking that one step he never takes. Slowly, slowly, he reached for Rorschach's mask, brushing his fingers along the blotches of ink that seem to cling to his fingers before feeling his way to where the fabric ended by his neck. And, hesitantly, he pulled the mask up in a smooth motion.

The shock that Daniel felt when he saw the freckled face, the red, messy hair, the small cuts and bruises, and the blue of his eyes that were looking up at Daniel with pure disgust and hurt.

In one swift movement, Rorschach had stood up and punched Daniel in the stomach so hard it sent him flying into the wall. Immediately, the guilt rushed through Daniel and he was stuttering apologies, the fedora and mask left forgotten on the floor.

"I-I'm sorry --"

"_Trusted_ you."

The way Rorschach stood, the way he was looking at him, made Rorschach look completely exposed.

Daniel was torn, knowing he had just broken the bond, and perhaps the only friendship that Rorschach had ever had. The thought of everything being ruined, everything they had, gone, only made Daniel question; _If everything is already gone, why not screw something else over?_

He stood up shakily, regaining his only composure, and stepped those _stupid_ steps he hated taking because he knew that this was goodbye. Daniel put his right hand on Rorschach's shoulder, in a comforting gesture, and kissed him.

It was so goddamn _awkward_. It was like kissing a broken toy. Rorschach had completely tensed up in shock, but Daniel felt him relax ever so slightly, which made him curious, before he broke away. And it really did feel like breaking away. He handed Rorschach his fedora and his mask, stepped out of the way warily, incase Rorschach decided to give him one more 'warning punch' and watched as Rorschach put his mask back on.

"Not now."

And Daniel just watched, like he would always watch, as Rorschach left his apartment.

Now _he_ felt like the broken toy.

Oh, no. They would never talk about that.


	2. Chapter 2

As it burned, the pieces of firewood crackled and popped, flames rising through the chimney, out into the cold, New York air.

Daniel was too focused on keeping the firewood burning, alive, (the firewood was of low quality, and the fire kept dying out) to realize that there had been some form of tapping – no, actual _knocking_ at his door.

He looked at the clock. _11:45 pm_. Who would be knocking at his door at practically midnight? The question hovered in his mind before it hit him. His heart jumped, his stomach churned with butterflies, and Daniel shot up from his sofa, rushing towards the door before coughing softly, uncomfortably, trying to calm himself. He reached for the door to unlocked it, and paused.

"Who is it?" he inquired, listening closely.

A small but audible grunt made its way through the wooden door, then "Rorschach" in a forced, pained voice. Hearing the pain in Rorschach's voice, Daniel opened the door as quickly as he could with the new lock (he had to yet again replace it with another lock because a certain _someone_ had kicked the door open) and found himself face-to-mask with Rorschach.

He looked _horrible_. Even with the mask, he looked awful. There was never once a time that Rorschach knocked, never once a time that Rorschach had collapsed into Daniel's chest, and there was never once a time that Daniel had caught him.

Quick to act, Daniel helped the exhausted vigilante into the bathroom and sat him up on the toilet seat before fumbling to get bandages and rubbing alcohol out from the drawer under the sink. He didn't know what was wrong with Rorschach, it could be just exhaustion, but he wanted to be prepared.

Daniel started to take off Rorschach's scarf for a start, which made the vigilante tense up and try and pull away, pushing Dan's hands away at the same time. With no success, he relented and bowed his head down towards the floor. Daniel took the scarf off carefully, setting it on the counter. Next, he went for the fedora, then the trench coat, noticing no signs of blood on the wife beater that Rorschach wore, but Daniel did notice the toned muscles that Rorschach had, and he admired them for a split second before shaking the ideas out of his head and hanging the trench coat up on a hook on the back of the door.

He warily touched Rorschach's mask, chewing on the inside of his cheek, seeing the blood seeping through the fabric. Maybe, just maybe --

Before he could even start to lift the mask, Rorschach grabbed his hand and bent it back slightly as a warning.

"Can handle self now." was his only defense in his raspy voice. He coughed. "Don't need you."

"Rorschach – you came to _me_ for help. I have to see what happened. It's all right." Daniel coaxed, trying so hard. He wanted, _needed_ to see his face again. He didn't want to be the broken toy again, and he didn't want to lose Rorschach.

To Daniel's surprise, Rorschach relented, and let go of his wrist, letting Daniel lift the mask up off his face. The gouge in the side of his face was deep, but repairable. Daniel didn't want to question, he didn't want to drive Rorschach away any more than he already had. He grabbed the bandages, and got to work.

Twenty minutes of "mrrgs" and "enks" and almost a small fit from Rorschach because Daniel had gone too deep with the needle had left Daniel exhausted. It had been a while since he had used a needle, and he was bound to make a few mistakes. He was glad Rorschach didn't hold anything against him for it once he finished, he could see it in his eyes. The way Rorschach looked at him, it was almost .... No, no. He had to stop thinking like that. Who was _he_ to feel that way about someone so ....

The thought was pushed away as Rorschach stood from the toilet seat and grabbed his mask.

Dan hated to be so selfish, but he wanted to feel the way he did a few nights ago. He wanted to take that goddamn step again.

He grabbed hold of Rorschach's arm, and turned him around, and kissed him before Rorschach had a chance to react. It was different than before, kissing the broken toy seemed a bit less...broken. It was disbelieving how Rorschach's lips parted slightly, kissing back ever so slightly before shoving Daniel away and pulling his mask back on.

It took a few moments for Daniel to put his thoughts back together.

"Rorschach – wait, you can't go back out there, you need to rest." Daniel protested.

"Don't need your hospitality."

"Rorschach. Sleep on the couch, please." it almost sounded more like an order than a request.

The inkblots on Rorschach's mask moved slowly, as if thinking.

Daniel didn't feel as broken.

--

A/N: Uh....To be continued, maybe? I don't know how I got this out in two days. Ummm....critique welcome, spelling corrections are welcome too. Hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Personally, I think this chapter sucks .___. It's too bad it's the last one, I can't really continue it. So uh, yeah. Enjoy it, if you can XD; And thanks to the reviewers, it helped a lot.

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Dan was not a coward. No, no he was not.

So why was he still awake, staring at the ceiling?

Mentally, he was rejoicing at the fact that Rorschach had finally agreed (after much persuading) to sleep on the couch. Physically, however....he was quite uncomfortable. Tense, awake, fidgety, hot and cold, and there was a certain....problem in his pants that he'd _like_ to take care of, but can't because he's too afraid of getting caught or heard by the ears of Rorschach. _He could hear everything_.

Dan didn't even know if Rorschach was asleep yet. And if he moved in his bed to get up, his bed made a loud creak in response, like it was saying in a mocking voice, "Get the fucking hint and go to sleep!" But Dan didn't want to go to sleep, he wanted to get up and make some tea, or something, to calm his nerves. So that's just what he did. He got up out of bed -- _finally_-- and crept downstairs.

Apparently the stairs felt the same way as the bed.

It was so quiet in his apartment that he could hear everything that went on around him. And with the stairs creaking, it really seemed like they were screaming at him. Step. _Creak._ Step. _Creak._ Step. _CRACK!_ Dan shuddered at the noise, praying that Rorschach was still asleep. He finally made it to the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove, turning on the stove and waiting for it to boil. To distract himself, he started to re-arrange the flowers on the table half-heartedly.

The tea kettle squealed. Dan yelped and scrambled to turn off the stove. When he turned around to get a cup from the cupboard, Rorschach was leaning against the door jam to the kitchen, and Dan yelped again, jumping back.

"_Jesus_ Rorschach!" Dan gasped, "what are you doing up?"

"Heard water boil," the smaller man rasped.

"Oh, well, I-I uh, I'm just making some tea." Dan replied.

"Can see that." Rorschach muttered.

Dan needed to get this off his chest before it was too late. "Rorschach, I wanted to talk abou--"

"No, Daniel."

"Rorschach, we need to talk about--"

"Nothing to discuss, Daniel."

Dan looked down at the tile floor. Well, so much for talking about anything with him. He mumbled a few incoherent things under his breath and Rorschach, being Rorschach, heard them.

"Need to go, Daniel." Rorschach said. And something about the way he said his name....was there ..._remorse_ in there?

"Rorschach, I, I wanted to just...just see your face again, all right?" Dan choked out, looking back up at Rorschach, feeling the tears coming. How _pathetic_.

The ink blots swirled slowly, and this time, Dan didn't have to force the mask off of Rorschach. Rorschach took it off himself, and Dan's brown, watery eyes became even more sad. Stepping forward, he took Rorschach's face in his hands, and pressed his forehead against the smaller man's. The moment was small, loving, and he had begun to cry. Closing his eyes, the gesture was more than just a connection.

_Those words that were never said. Those words they never talked about. It was times like these they both knew it was done with, gone. It wasn't Dan's fault, no, but the fact that neither of them could face each other as being something other than partner's in crime. It was too much._

It was the red-head that pulled away first, slowly, as not to startle Dan, who was so fixated on finding the right words to use that he couldn't get anything out of his mouth in time.

Rorschach was gone. He was gone before those words they never uttered to each other could make their way past his lips.

"_I love you,"_


End file.
